10 Outdoor Lighting Ideas To Consider

Adding lighting to your outdoors brings life to your garden. Moreover, the same lighting also plays an important role in enhancing your outdoor security, evening aesthetics, night-time visibility, as well as creating a cozy environment for evening entertainment.

#1. Light The Pathways

These light draw energy from the sun during the day. At night, they use their stored energy to light your outdoor areas. Such lights are best used along the pathway edges, along your garden beds perimeter, your driveway entry, and other similar places. The best thing about them, to install them, you simply spike them into the ground.

#2. Traditional Features

If you have a cottage garden, going for a classic-shaped lighting option is a good choice. For instance, these solar-powered sparklers are perfect as they do not require wires or batteries. As for placement, try and place them in between plantings as this will add a spectacular ambiance to your yard.

#3. Create Party Vibes

While it is trendy to suspend a string of outdoor party lights, it is not a new concept. However, what’s new is the use of clear bulbs instead of the traditional retro colors. These lights are best used when zigzagged overhead under a patio or verandah. Alternatively, you can sting them up in a single length and place them under an outdoor dining table.

#4. Lantern Light

There is something romantic about candlelight. The candlelight glow also creates the perfect ambiance for you and your loved ones to enjoy an evening night in your backyard. You can opt for a set mixed-color battery-powered or wax candles. Alternatively, you can use tiki-style lanterns to infuse a resort ambiance, especially when you citronella oil that also repels mozzies away.

#5. Motion Activated Lighting

There is nothing as scary/worse/dangerous as arriving at your home in pitch darkness and having to navigate your way without seeing anything. To avoid such a situation just have motion sensor-activated lighting at your gate, front entrance, driveway, garage, and anywhere you deem suitable. In the same light, you can have automatic timers set to activate the sensor to spook unwanted guests.

#6. Light Your Entryway

Getting your key into the lock is way much easier to achieve with proper lighting. To this end, if your home’s architecture is traditional, you can use exterior lighting that complements the classic look and feel of your entryway. On the other hand, if you have a contemporary home, there are plenty of clean-lined models for you choose from that will go well with this design.

#7. Spotlight Special Features

You can highlight special plantings and trees that are standout features in your garden using upward-facing lighting. This is especially effective when you have a tropical scheme where you can use this type of lighting to highlight sculptured foliage and trunks that palms trees yield. You should also consider adding a timer to the exterior-grade lighting to negate the hassle of having to light up the lights every night.

#8. Create An Indoor Feel Outdoors

You can also use indoor lighting designs to light up your outdoor spaces, and thereby induce an indoor feeling to outdoor space. This helps create a smooth transition between your indoor and outdoor spaces. To this end, you can use chandeliers, pendants, and even portable floor lamps to create a relaxing, feeling synonymous with indoor environments. Such as space will enhance your outdoor experience and entice you to spend more time outdoors, especially during summer and spring.

#9. Go Portables.

Do you like rearranging your lighting arrangement or you are renting your house? Portable or plug-in lighting designs are perfectly suited to your needs and situation. Instead of hardwiring the lighting fixtures, you can use the portable options to great effect. There are numerous designs to choose from, giving you a greater versatility as to where you can use these lights.

#10. Make Use Of Little Low-Voltage.

Well-placed low-voltage accent or path lights can have an enormous effect on the landscape design regardless of whether you have a sprawling yard or a tiny patio. They are very cost-effective and easy to install. To install this type of lights, all you need is:

A transformer to reduce the standard house voltage of 120-volts to the require 12-volts

Outdoor rated low-voltage copper cable

Low-voltage lighting fixtures

The good thing about this type of lighting is that you can start small and continuously upgrade your lighting along the way. If you opt for this option, just purchase a transformer that can handle a higher wattage level than you will currently be using and a few patio lights. Over time, you can bring in new lights to match the maximum wattage of the transformer.

Much like floodlights and spotlights can highlight the architectural details of a property (statues, pillar, trees, etc.) you can use your house lighting to light up your yard. For instance, you can use wall lights that use silhouetted or indirect lights. Such lighting style will light up your wall but at the same time induce an interesting flair to your yard.